The following description of the background of the invention is provided to aid in understanding the invention, but is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the invention.
It is well known that long term storage of dry foodstuffs derived from or otherwise containing organic matter is hampered by the potential contaminating growth of microorganisms, loss of flavor and/or decomposition resulting from oxidation over time, and the potential for the development of toxins, generally, over the useful shelf life of the product. Most foodstuff manufacturers compensate for this “spoilage” by adding chemical preservatives to the product. However, it is well known in the art that chemical preservatives sacrifice the quality, taste, and overall integrity of foodstuff products. Those products that do not contain chemical preservatives have a short shelf life and are thus limited with regard to long-term use.
One largely successful approach to solving this problem has been the use of airtight, flexible, rigid, or semi-rigid packaging containers or vessels that contain a one-way degassing valve to allow the unidirectional outward flow of gases, including but not limited to oxygen, nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide, from the container. Most one-way degassing valves, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,994, were originally designed to preferentially exclude long chain organic molecules, those considered “aromatic” gases, from exiting the container by way of the degassing valve.
While efficient at preservation, that approach is limited with respect to effective consumer marketing because consumers are not able to sample the product by way of smelling the foodstuff ingredient(s) or aroma(s) prior to making a purchasing decision. Thus, there is a bona fide need for packaging containers and non-chemical preservation methods that can preferentially prevent outgassing from a container of long chain product-derived aromatic gases on one hand but be induced to exhale aromatic gasses upon physical stimulation or the application of pressure (e.g., by a customer's squeezing of the container), such that aroma(s) emanating from the product packaged in the container may be sampled on demand by a consumer without compromising the integrity of the vessel, immediately reducing the risk of purchase for the consumer. Such compositions and methods would be highly useful, but not limited to, the packaging and strategic marketing of breadcrumbs and breadcrumb-based products, spices, and other dry, packaged food products the aroma(s) of which are an appealing and salient feature that may be exploited for enhanced marketing purposes.